OT XII [A] : Jer 20:10-13; Rom 5:12-15; Mt 10:26-33

Our Scripture readings for today call us to preach Christ through our words and lives without fear. The first reading tells us how the prophet Jeremiah trusted in the power of God while he faced opposition for his prophetic ministry. In the Gospel, after having predicted future opposition and persecution, Jesus encourages his disciples to stand firm. Three times they are urged, “Do not fear!” “Do not be afraid!” Instead of shrinking from their task, they are to proclaim the Gospel boldly because they will be protected. Hence, Jesus commands his disciples not to fear their persecutors.

Jesus has two important thoughts about suffering. First, that here on earth there is no escape from it. Sometimes Christian preachers say that if we believe hard enough in Jesus, he will take away all our suffering. But Jesus never said that. Jesus told us that if we want to follow him, we will have to take up our cross every day. He told his Apostles not to be afraid of those who kill the body, but he didn't say that no one would try to kill them. In fact, all of Christ's first Apostles were martyred - except St John the Evangelist, who miraculously survived being boiled in oil. Therefore, following Jesus will not save us from suffering in this life. That's his first thought.

His second thought explains why he permits his followers to suffer. Suffering entered the world with sin, as St Paul reminds us in the Second Reading. So to save us from suffering, Jesus would have to eliminate all sin, but that would mean eliminating all freedom, since sin is freely chosen rebellion against God. But eliminating freedom would also eliminate the possibility of experiencing and giving love - we would become God's robots, instead of his children. So instead of eliminating suffering, Jesus transformed it, turning it into a channel of grace.

Sometimes we can think that the age of the martyrs ended long ago, and that in the modern world we really don't have to worry so much about suffering for Christ. But the twentieth century had more Christian martyrs than all previous centuries combined.

Just last a few months ago, violence broke out against Catholic priests and laity in Zimbabwe simply because they actively supported the opposition party in the recent elections. They organized, peacefully and legally, against the ruling party because of its ongoing violation of basic human rights. As a result, many have been kidnapped, tortured, and maimed by soldiers.

Faithfully following Christ and fulfilling our mission as Christians does not guarantee a suffering-free life here on earth - not even in our modern, enlightened world. But it does guarantee a meaningful life here, and a very warm, everlasting welcome hereafter. And all the saints agree that there is no greater joy on this earth than bearing crosses with love.

Today's Psalm tells us that God hears the cry of the poor.

Sometimes we wonder whether God really does hear the cry of the poor?

What about the abortions, suicides, child trafficking etc happening in our world right now. What about the countless victims of natural disasters, war, and poverty?

What about the agonizing moral and emotional suffering hidden in our own hearts and our neighbors'?

Is the Lord really with us? Is he really a mighty champion?

Yes.

Not a sparrow alights on the ground without the Father's knowledge. Every hair on every head is counted.

Jesus used those striking images so that there would be absolutely no doubt left in our minds: God is watching over all of us and guiding the course of history - nothing escapes his providential care.

God's Providence is real. It will never let us down. Every evil deed will be set right, and every prayer will be answered. Because God is a caring Father as we pray in the prayer our Father. And tomorrow/today is Fathers’ day in this country. God is the real Father and other earthly fathers have only derivative attributes. No earthly father is able to number the hair on the head of his children. But God the Father does. Therefore we need to have a full trust in God the Father as a little child does.  

A little girl had somehow received a bad cut in the soft flesh of her eyelid. The doctor knew that some stitches were needed, but he also knew that because of the location of the cut, he should not use an anesthetic. He talked with the little girl and he told her what he must do… and asked her if she thought she could stand the touch of the needle without jumping. She thought for a moment, and then said simply, “I think I can if Daddy will hold me while you do it.” So, the father took his little girl in his lap, steadied her head against his shoulder, and held her tightly in his arms. The surgeon then quickly did his work… and the little girl did not flinch. She just held on tight to her Father.

That’s a parable for us in our spiritual lives, and a graphic reminder that whatever we have to face, we can hold on tight to our Father… and He will see us through. There’s a word for that… it’s called TRUST or FAITH. It’s surely what Jesus had in mind when he said, “Unless you become like a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of God.” As we honor the earthly fathers this weekend let’s realize that we have only one Father who is true to its name. But we need to recognize the sacrifices of the fathers who try to imitate the Heavenly Father’s care. May the heavenly Father Bless them and their children honor them.

THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST [A] Dt 8:2-3,14b-16a; I Cor 10:16-17 Jn 6:51-58)

Today we celebrate Corpus Christi – the feast of  The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

At the last supper Jesus established the Sacrament of Eucharist and symbolically shared His body and Blood with His disciples. He also commanded them to do it till the end of the world, in His memory. Food gives energy for sustenance. The Spiritual food Jesus offered, gives energy for spiritual sustenance.

God performed wonderful miracles for his Chosen People, feeding them with manna from heaven during their forty year journey to the Promised Land. And yet, they were still constantly complaining, constantly forgetting about God's goodness and falling into disobedience, self-centeredness and self-absorption.

Our life too is a journey, and our destination is the eternal Promised Land of Heaven. And God provides us with an even more miraculous food, a more wonderful manna, to give us his own divine strength - strength we need every day in order to resist temptation and faithfully fulfill God's will. Our manna is the Eucharist.

We believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. And today, when we celebrate the Feast of Body and Blood of Christ, we proclaim that conviction aloud. It is not mere symbol as many non-catholic faith communities teach. So they do not have a reservation of the holy Eucharist in their churches and they put away the remaining hosts from their services along with the other unused ones, as if no change happened to them. Ever since the very beginning of the Church, she believed in the real presence and so had the reservation of the Eucharist.

The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: ‘Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.’” Therefore, the bread and wine ceases to be bread and wine, although what we directly perceive, the appearances, remain the same, so that there is no perceptible change. In the transubstantiation the accidents, like color, smell, size or taste do not change. Only in the Eucharistic miracles which are rare incidents, that have taken place, the bread became visible flesh and wine tuned into blood. But in such cases the people could not eat or drink that transformed species where accidents also changed. They are kept for public viewing.  That is not the sole purpose of the Eucharist. When we went to Italy last year we saw the miracle that happened at Lanciano in the 700s. There are scores of other such miracles if you Google you can read many of them.

St Paul, in today's Second Reading, calls Holy Communion a "participation" in the body and blood of Christ. And this is why Jesus himself, in today's Gospel Reading, repeats six times - SIX times - that his flesh is real food and his blood is real drink. So it cannot be a mere symbol.

“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in Him (Jn 6:56) and

“As I myself draw life from my Father, so whoever eats me will draw life from life.”

Jesus in the Eucharist is the everlasting fulfillment of the ancient prophecy that our Savior will be "Immanuel" - God with us.

Speaking of the Eucharist St. John Chrysostom says: Just as the bread comes from many grains, which remain themselves and are not distinguished from one another because they are united, so we are united with Christ.”  Just as numerous grains of wheat are pounded together to make the host, and many grapes are crushed together to make the wine, so we become unified in this sacrifice. Our Lord chose these elements in order to show us that we ought to seek union with one another, to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us into Our Lord Jesus Christ and to work with Him in the process.  Christ is the Head and we are the Body.  Together we are one.  I eat the body of Christ and you eat the body of Christ and the Christ is one we are all one. If we ate dead body of Christ we could still remain separate but we eat the living body of Christ and hence we cannot be two.

This imposes a serious obligation on us Christians – to receive the Holy Eucharist only if we are determined to live in peace with one another. If there is disunity, if our hearts are filled with malice towards others, if we indulge in injustice, if we our thoughts are impure, we have no right to partake in the breaking of the Bread. The sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is the living bread of eternal life. Therefore, it is meant for those who are pure of heart. Justin the martyr taught “It is allowed to no one else to participate in that food which we call Eucharist except the one who is living according to the way Christ handed on to us.” St Augustine preached, “Before you receive Jesus Christ, you should remove from your heart all worldly attachments which you know to be displeasing to Him.

Today, let's thank our Lord for this indescribable gift, and let's ask for the grace to grow in ever more deeper appreciation of the Eucharist.

SOLEMNITY OF THE HOLY TRINITY.

Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday. And before that we celebrated Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. Today, having collected all three Divine Persons, The Father, Son and the Spirit, we celebrate in one celebration. The dogma of Trinity is perhaps the most difficult dogma in Christian theology to explain. But this is the most sensible one.

To start with, in the OT God revealed himself as one God but at times he used different forms in revealing himself. Up until 2nd century the Jewish Rabbis accepted that there are two powers in heaven. But when the Christian doctrine of trinity came the Jewish rabbis went back to Unitarian monotheism.

The Christian teaching is that though the Bible speaks of God as ONE, he revealed himself in three different persons. Jesus claimed his oneness with the Father in John 10:30 - I and [my] Father are one. The Son of God was the Word of God and He became flesh. The Spirit of God is mentioned by Jesus as Another Paraclete whom he will send from the Father.

1 John 5:7 says: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” And Mathew 28:18-20 speaks of God in one Name and not names: In the NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

According to Richard of St. Victor, God has to be trinity: “For God to be good, God has to be one. (Jesus said, There is only one who is good Mk. 10:18). For God to be “loving”, he has to be two, because love is always a relationship. The oneness of God stirs with the motion of love.  Love gives birth. And, for God to be Supreme joy and happiness, God has to be three”. Lovers do not know full happiness until they both delight in the same thing, like new parents with the ecstasy of their first child.

So our concept of trinity is: The Father uncreated; the Son uncreated; and the Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father unlimited; the Son unlimited; and the Holy Ghost unlimited. The Father eternal; so is son and Holy Spirit. And yet they are not three eternals; but one eternal. As also there are not three uncreated; nor three infinites, but one uncreated; and one infinite.

So likewise the Father is Almighty; the Son Almighty; and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties; but one Almighty. So the Father is God; the Son is God; and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods; but one God.

G.K.Chesterton said: Islam has a lonely God. Islam’s Unitarian monotheism is that Allah is a solitary, lonely God. Before the creation of the world Allah would have been lonely and hence, no true divine attributes like, merciful or loving, could be applied to him. How could he have been merciful or loving if there was nobody else besides him to love or be merciful? So Allah needed a creation to become loving and merciful. Until then there was nobody he could be merciful to. So, it was his need to create the world. A Unitary concept of God would be incomplete without the creation. This is also the different in the concept of God’s relation to man. For Allah the human beings are slaves. But for Christians human beings are God’s children. A master dictates to his slaves and a father lovingly advices his children. Allah says to kill all those who do not accept his dominion, do not profess his name, but the father waits for the return of the prodigal rebellious son.

God is a community in the form of human relationship; and God created man in his own image and likeness. Jesus’ relationship with the Father is not biological relationship but a relational one. God the Father’s relationship with His Son and vice versa cannot be biological because God is Spirit. If it is biological the Son and the Spirit could not be co-eternal with the Father. One person can have several relationships. A person can be a father, son and brother at the same time. God is Father in his relationship to creation, since God created the world apart from himself.

Most things in the world have three dimensions. For instance, Time: past, present, future. Measures: Three dimensions: length , width and height. Language:1st person, second person and third person.

Many things in the world have three forms: Water: Ice and steam. Sun: light, heat. Candle: flame, light and heat.

It is not easy to grasp and explain the mystery of the trinity. If one can fully grasp this mystery then God would not be God because God is infinite and finite minds cannot at any time can grasp the mystery of God. That is why Jesus said: No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (Mt 11:27).

Jesus’ identity with the Father is again mentioned in Jn 1:18; No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Jn 14:23). As we celebrate this solemnity let’s realize that we are not alone but the trinity lives in us and loves us. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.

1 jn:4:9 says: We love because he first loved us. We are able to love only inasmuch as we have received, as a grace, a share in the very life, energy, and nature of God. Let the celebration of this feast inspire us to love and share like God the trinity among each other.